Improvement in horse-boots



- 2 Sheets-Sheet 1..

A. RANDALL.

Horse-Boots.

No. 222,796. Patented Dec. 23, 1879;

2 Sheet s -Sheet 2 A. RANDALL.

Horse-Boots.

Patented Dec. 23, 1879.

N. PHERS' PHOTO-LITHDGR'AP1 H WAbHIMTON n O UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIoE.

ANDREXV RANDALL, ()F ALBANY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO ANNA RANDALL, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN HORSE-BOOTS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 222,796, dated December 23, 1879; application filed February 20, 1879.

low pads, weights, and other devices embodied in my improved horse-boot, and hereinafter more particularly described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, in which similar letters of reference indicate like parts,

. Figure 1 represents a perspective view of a horse-boot embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the inner side. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the outer side. Fig. 4 is a front elevation. Fig. 5 is a rear elevation. Fig. 6 is a horizontal view from above. Fig. 7 is a sectional elevation taken at line No. 1 in Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is a transverse sectional elevation taken at line No. 2 in Fig. 6.

In the drawings, A represents the body of my improved quarterboot, which is made of cast or molded flexible rubber, or equivalent material, and conforms to the configuration of the foot, including the hoof, coronet, and the heel portion of the same, excepting at the rear portion of the coronet, as will be hereinafter described.

This boot is made closed at its rear and opened in front, as shown in Figs. 1 and 6, and has securely inclosed in its side lower marginal portions the flexible or elastic metal strip or band B, Figs. 7 and 8, having secured V to it the holdinglips 7) b, which are intended to be inserted into spaces or holes made correspondingly between the hoof and shoe. Secured to one of the end portions, A of the forward end of the boot is the strap a and buckle, and secured to the other end portion, A is the strap a, which straps and buckle are used to unite the said ends of the boot and hold the boot bound in place on the foot, while the holding-lips b b-hold the boot from being moved either up or down, or turning in either direction.

The rear portion, A, of the boot extends to a distance higher than the plane of the sides thereof, as shown in Figs. 2, 3, and S, and is made to curve inward as it runs upward, as shown in Fig. 8, so that the upper marginal portion of said rear part will fit into the pastern above the quarters of the foot.

Made on the outside of the boot, and on the side thereof facing the foot opposite the one the boot is worn on, and at or near the lower marginal edge of the same, is a series of hollow half-balls, O G, which series of half-balls extend to near the full length of the boot from toe to heel, as shown in Fig. 2. These haltballs are made hollow, and are cast or molded integral with the body of the boot.

Made with and situated on the rear quarters of the boot are the hollow pads D 1), Figs. 2, 3, 5, 6, and 8, which pads, when the boot is in place on the foot, cover over the quarters of the animals foot, while the cavities a: of the said pads lie over the edges of the quarter where the flesh joins with the hoof, and 011 at a short distance from the same, with the upper and lower portions of the said pads bearin g on the foot, while the body of the boot itself nicely fits up close tot-he pastern, heel, and frog in their uneven surfaces, so that all those parts will be uniformly pressed upon when the boot is bound in place to the foot.

E is a metallic weight, weighing from two to nine ounces, accordingto the manner the horse throws his foot when in motion. This weight is made in its forward end or half more bulky and heavy than its rearward portion, which gradually tapers as it runs back, and terminates in a tongue, 0, which enters into a recessed holding-piece, F, or staple or clip, as shown. Made in the forward'portion of this weight is a notched recess, 0, which receives the strap a of the device a a, used for uniting the toe portions A A of the boot. Made with the ,said weight, and projecting from the lower side of the same downward, is the holding-lip d, which enters into a pocket made in the wall of the boot. This weight, being constructed with the tongue and holding-lip,as described, and recessed notch c, is

readily detachable from the boot, so that weights of different degrees may be readily attached to the boot, as circumstances may require.

The manner in which this boot is to be applied is as follows: The boot is to be placed on the foot by spreading the ends A A and passing the same forward from the heel toward the toe, with the holding-lips b b entering into recessespreviously made between the shoe and hoot at corresponding points, and with the upper marginal portion of the heel of the boot entering into the pastern of the foot, as shown in Fig.8. The weightE is then tobe placed on the boot, by entering the tongue 0 into staple F, and the lip (1 into the pocket d, and the strap a into the recessed notch 0, when the straps aa are to be tightly buckled together to bind the boot in place. When thus secured in place the upper marginal portion of the boot will closely fit, in its entire length, the upper portion of the foot, with a portion at the heel of the boot fitting closely in the pastern of the foot. This close fitting of the upper marginal edge will effect ually exclude all entrance of soil or foreign substance from above under the boot, while at the same time the lower marginal portion of the boot will closely fit the entire circumference of the foot and heel of the same, and also the edge of the shoe, and exclude the entrance of dirt or soil from below.

The series of half-balls G on the inner side of the boot, and facing the foot opposite the one upon which the boot is worn, is made to project to a considerable distance outward and past the wall of the hoof and the edge of the shoe S, as shown in Fig. 5. The pads D will be in a situation directly over the quarters of the 'foot, while the cavity of the said pads will face the portion of the coronet, where the flesh joins the hoof, on the said quarters of the foot in their whole extent, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 8, so that the boot will not touch that portion of the coronet to irritate the same. The weight E will be firmly secured to the foot, through the medium of the boot, in a situation which will operate to dispense with the heavier shoeing of the foot on the ofi' side of the same, as is the practice with horses whose feet interfere, while at the same time it will operate the same as a weight placed on the fore part of the foot for making the animal take a longer step, and prevent thereby overreaching of the hind foot.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. I11 a horse-boot, the body A, provided with inner plates B, hollow rear pads, D D, and a series of hollow side pads, c, said pads being of one piece with said body A.

2. In combination with bodyA, having hollow pads O and D, arranged as set forth, the

weight E, tapering from front to rear and held by catch-plate F.

ANDREW RANDALL. .Vvitnesses THOMAS C. MURRAY, ALEX. SELKIRK. 

